Pelicans-Suns Preview

By ELI KABERONPosted Feb 28 2014 3:00PM

A three-game losing streak and a key injury have put the Phoenix Suns on the brink of relinquishing their spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.

The Suns will try to turn it around Friday night when they host another team that is banged up and has found wins hard to come by lately, the New Orleans Pelicans.

It's unclear if the leading scorer for either team will play.

Phoenix point guard Goran Dragic missed a game Wednesday for the first time since November because of a sprained ankle and is a game-time decision.

All-Star forward Anthony Davis traveled with the Pelicans to Arizona, but he is also a game-time decision after he left their last game with a sprained left shoulder. Davis participated in the morning shootaround and said his shoulder is improved, but coach Monty Williams remains cautious.

While New Orleans is winless since the All-Star break and out of the postseason chase, the Suns (33-24) are now just a half-game ahead of Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. A big problem during their three-game skid has been poor play on defense, allowing averages of 111.3 points and 52.3 percent from the field.

"Defensively, the last three games we've given up 115, 114 and 109 points to teams that usually average 94," coach Jeff Hornacek said following Wednesday's 109-86 loss to lowly Utah. "We're a fast-breaking team that relies on getting stops and getting steals. When we don't do that, we struggle."

Dragic, who leads the team with 20.2 points and 6.2 assists per game, was greatly missed Wednesday as Phoenix matched its lowest point total of the season and shot 38.8 percent. The Suns' 14 assists were two off a season low and their 15 fast-break points were their fewest since the break.

Though Dragic hoped to play versus the Pelicans (23-34), he didn't sound overly optimistic. The Suns playmaker says his injured right ankle still is quite sore and he needs to be at 100 percent to play the way he needs to play.

Phoenix has won both meetings this season even with him missing the first - also due to a sprained ankle - and having only 12 points and three assists in the second.

Davis was held to a combined 10-of-27 shooting for 31 points in those defeats, both in November. He's missed only one game in the past two months but could be out Friday, two nights after leaving in the second quarter of a 108-89 loss to Dallas.

"When you play as hard as AD and these guys who go after it every single night, they're going to have bumps and bruises," coach Monty Williams said. "It could be nothing. It could be a day-to-day thing. We've got to let the doctors do their deal."

If Davis is unable to play, he will join fellow Pelicans starters Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday on the sidelines because of injuries.

"It's difficult, but guys have been in and out all year," said Eric Gordon, who had 19 points Wednesday. "We've just got to keep on adjusting."

New Orleans has dropped five straight even with Davis posting double-doubles in the first four. He had six points and nine boards in less than 13 minutes Wednesday.

While the Hornets have dropped six of seven on the road, the Suns are looking to avoid suffering three straight home losses for the first time this season.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Dragic's career-high 40 leads Suns past Pelicans

By BOB BAUMPosted Mar 01 2014 2:19AM

PHOENIX (AP) Goran Dragic almost didn't play Friday night.

On a bad ankle, with his Phoenix team needing to end a three-game skid, he decided to give it a try.

The result was a career-high 40-point performance in 42 minutes, leading the Suns past the New Orleans Pelicans 116-104.

A game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesday's loss at Utah, Dragic played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemire's 44 on March 19, 2010.

"That's what All-Stars do," Hornacek said, a not-so-veiled reference to Dragic being left off the All-Star team.

At the end, as Dragic sank the free throws that got him to 40, the crowd chanted "M-V-P."

"I never imagined they would cheer that for me," Dragic said. "It is a great feeling, especially with those last four free throws when the whole crowd stood up and cheered. It is something special in my career that I will remember my whole life."

Anthony Davis, also a game-time decision because of a sprained left shoulder, matched his career high with 32 points for the Pelicans, who lost their sixth in a row.

"We just couldn't get the stops, we just couldn't get the ball," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "Dragic was in our paint all night long. He's a really good player, but we could have done a better job."

Dragic, who had expressed some doubt after the morning shootaround that he would be able to play, had a career-best 35 in the Suns' loss to Houston on Sunday. He hurt his ankle in the home loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.

He had 15 points in the first quarter, 25 in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter, surpassing 30 points in a game for the eighth time this season.

Phoenix took control with a 17-1 fourth-quarter run. Dragic banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then sank an 18-footer to cap the outburst and put the Suns ahead 105-92 with 4:33 left.

When he banked in that 3, he grabbed his head with both hands.

"When you're hot," he said, "sometimes you feel it and luck is on your side."

Phoenix looked to be in trouble late in the third quarter.

The Pelicans used a 15-1 run to go up 77-67 on Austin Rivers' two free throws with 2:59 left in the period.

But Phoenix outscored the Pelicans 14-4 the rest of the quarter. Marcus Morris scored the first seven in the run, Dragic sank a 3, then made a driving layup to tie it at 81-81 entering the fourth quarter.

New Orleans took a four-point lead early in the fourth and was up 91-88 on Brian Roberts' driving layup with 9:47 remaining. Phoenix, though, scored the next six. Dragic hit on a drive, then Markieff Morris made consecutive layups and the Suns led 94-91 with 8:13 left.

Neither team led by more than seven points in a first half bereft of defense, with the Suns up 56-54 at the break.

In the second quarter, nobody led by more than four. Al-Farouq Aminu's two free throws put the Pelicans up 50-47 with 2:14 left in the half, then the Suns scored seven straight, P.J. Tucker's 3-pointer giving Phoenix a 54-50 lead 52.9 seconds before the break.

Gordon's layup at the buzzer was ruled no good and the call was upheld on review, preserving Phoenix's two-point edge.

New Orleans' Tyreke Evans was a late arrival after getting stuck in the hotel elevator for a half-hour. He arrived about an hour before the opening tip.

"Next time I come to Phoenix," he said, "I will take the steps."

NOTES: Phoenix swept the season series 3-0. ... The Suns' Leandro Barbosa missed his fourth straight game with a sprained toe. ... Phoenix avoided matching its longest losing streak of the season at four games. ... Suns G Eric Bledsoe, coming back from knee surgery, participated in 3-on-3 drills and could resume full practice next week. ... The Pelicans' longest losing streak of the season is seven games.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

THE LEAD:Eric Bledsoe's long-awaited return to the Phoenix Suns could come within days. Until it happens, the Suns are trying frantically to remain over .500 without him. They did so Friday night by wearing down the visiting Pelicans and pulling away late for a 116-104 win.

With the win, the Suns moved to 34-24 overall -- and 18-16 without Bledsoe. They avoided a season-worst four-game losing streak. The Pelicans (23-35) lost their sixth straight.

Goran Dragic, drawing cheers of "MVP!", scored a career-high 40 points. His availability was in question until shortly before the game because of an ankle injury that caused him to miss the Suns' previous game Wednesday night. Dragic shot 14-for-21.

For the Pelicans, Davis had a great game with 32 points, nine rebounds, three steals and a block. His availability also had been in question because of a sore shoulder.

Dragic scored 15 points in the first quarter as the Suns led, 30-28 entering the second quarter. They led 56-54 at halftime.

QUOTABLE: "It was great. I never imagined that cheer for me. I was here when they cheered Steve (Nash for MVP). It's something I'll probably remember all my life." -- Goran Dragic

THE STAT: With 40 points, Dragic recorded his career scoring high for the third time this month. He poured in 34 vs. Golden State on Feb. 8, then went for 35 on Feb. 23 vs. Houston.

TURNING POINT: The Suns took off on a 17-1 run midway through the final quarter. Trailing 91-88, Dragic scored on a drive, then Markieff Morris hit a short banker and a layup to get things going. Dragic capped the run with a 25-footer from up top that accidentally banked in and, moments later, a 17-footer. The Suns suddenly had a 105-92 lead and the game.

QUOTABLE II: "He came up before the game and said, 'I can go, coach.'" -- Suns coach Jeff Hornacek on deciding whether to play Dragic. He also turned to trainer Aaron Nelson, the Suns' trainer and Hornacek's brother-in-law, who told him, "'I can tell when he's fibbing,'" but judged Dragic was good to go.

QUOTABLE III: "We knew he was a great player. But the way he's able to get around things...When they double him, he still gets around it, reverses his dribble. I think he's at the point in his career where he's seen every possible defense. When they do something, he adjusts." -- Jeff Hornacek on Dragic

HOT: The Suns, a mediocre free-throw shooting team, hit 23-for-26 from the line, including 9-for-11 by Dragic.

NOT: The Pelicans' Austin Rivers shot 1-for-7.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Over the past four games, the Suns' Channing Frye has shot 9-for-30, including 5-for-19 on 3-pointers, while averaging just for 6.3 points and 3.8 rebounds.

NOTABLE: The Pelicans' Tyreke Evans got stuck in an elevator before the game, coach Monty Williams revealed. Evans made it to the game and started. He played well, shooting 6-for-13 for 14 points plus five boards and four assists...He hit three driving layups in a 1:34 span in the third quarter to spark a 13-0 Pelicans' run to give them a 75-66 lead...Markieff Morris has scored in double figures off the bench in 20 of the Suns' 21 last games...The Suns are 21-8 playing on one day of rest.